JAMES L. WHITE, 49, a Seattle, Washington attorney, was sentenced to
18 months in prison today in U.S. District Court in Seattle for Money
Laundering, in violation of federal law. In a related case, A. MARK
VANDERVEEN, 45, a Seattle, Washington attorney, was sentenced to three
months in prison and three months of home confinement for Failing to
File a Currency Transaction Report as Required by Federal Law.
At his sentencing hearing today, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez told WHITE
his behavior was "extremely troubling.... You committed numerous
violations of your ethical duties as an attorney and a judge."
During 2005, JAMES L. WHITE, a practicing attorney, was visited in
his law office by a client who delivered to WHITE $100,000 cash in a
backpack, which WHITE knew constituted proceeds from the distribution
of drugs. The currency was packaged in bundles held together by rubber
bands. Rather than deposit the money in a bank account which would have
triggered a federal currency reporting requirement, WHITE took the money
to his home where he kept it hidden. No law office records were created
to document the receipt of cash, and no receipt was provided to the
client. WHITE spent the money on a variety of things including trips
to India and Figi.
In asking for a prison term, Assistant United States Attorney Ron Friedman
noted that WHITE had surveilled one member of the drug conspiracy and
arranged a polygraph exam to try to locate $1 million in missing marijuana.
The activities, wrote Friedman, are "wholly at odds with his professional
responsibilities, and have nothing to do with the meaningful representation
of a client – – any client."
During March 2005, WHITE met with attorney A. MARK VANDERVEEN on two
occasions, and delivered to VANDERVEEN stacks of cash removed from the
backpack totaling approximately $20,000 U.S. currency. WHITE delivered
the cash to VANDERVEEN in a parking lot and later by leaving it in a
paper bag at the Edmonds Courthouse. The cash was provided to VANDERVEEN
as a retainer for VANDERVEEN to represent another individual then being
investigated by federal authorities for participation in drug trafficking.
VANDERVEEN willfully failed to file a "Report of Cash Payments
Over $10,000 Received in a Trade of Business" (IRS Form 8300) with
the Internal Revenue Service, a violation of federal law.
VANDERVEEN also participated in the surveillance and attempted polygraph
– activities prosecutors call "deeply disturbing." As
Friedman wrote to the court, "The polygraph had absolutely nothing
to do with the fair and zealous representation of one's client. Rather,
it had only to do with assisting a criminal organization by helping
it figure out who had taken some of its product, and in determining
whether one of its members might be working with the Government."
In sentencing both men, Judge Martinez noted that they were "intelligent,
educated, sophisticated attorneys who should have known better."
The Judge said he was particularly offended by WHITE's second payment
to VANDERVEEN which "was left in a paper bag on the judge's chair
in the Edmonds Courthouse. A place where Mr. Vanderveen would come and
put on judicial robes and mete out justice."
Judge Martinez said he considered going above the guidelines range
for both men and in fact sentenced VANDERVEEN to a longer term than
the one sought by prosecutors.
Law enforcement leaders were pleased with the successful conclusion
to the case.
"ICE is committed to using our law enforcement authorities to
dismantle the methods criminals use to earn, move and store illicit
funds," said Leigh Winchell, ICE Special Agent in Charge for investigations
in Seattle. "Our goal, as the primary investigative agency in the
Department of Homeland Security, is to disrupt and deter activities
that pose a threat to our nation' s welfare and public safety."
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Rodney
Benson stated, "The DEA will continue to target the lifeblood of
drug trafficking organizations – their money. As this case illustrates,
those who are entrusted with the care of the law are not above the law."
"The duty to file a Form 8300 when receiving, in the course of
conducting a trade or business, cash in excess of $10,000 in one transaction,
or in two or more related transactions, applies to lawyers as much as
it does to merchants, realtors, car dealers and the like," said
Sherree W. Preston, IRS Special Agent in Charge for Washington. "No
person or business subject to this law is exempt. This case helps demonstrate
why the cash reporting and money laundering laws were enacted relative
to narcotics related crimes, where concealing the source and nature
of the illegally obtained funds is the goal."
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue
Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), and prosecuted by
Assistant United States Attorneys Ronald Friedman and Susan Roe. For
additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs
Officer for the United States Attorney's Office, Western District of
Washington, at (206) 553-4110.
